NATIONAL SHOW OF UNITY OVER TAX DISASTER

FARMERS across Britain staged a defiant show of unity yesterday to make it clear to Rachel Reeves they will not let her "decimate" their futures without a fight.

- David Williamson

Tractors rolled into town centres across the land, joined by farmers with livestock, as they warned of the devastating impact the Chancellor's planned inheritance tax raid will have on rural communities and businesses.

And there are fears the "cruel and capricious tax" will also be applied to pension pots, with interest rates for grieving families making late payments being hiked from April. A national day of protest saw more than 100 events staged at locations including Selby in North Yorkshire, Warwick and Cambridge yesterday.

Mo Metcalf-Fisher, of the Countryside Alliance, told the Sunday Express: "Farmers and their supporters will not stop fighting back against the damaging family farm tax. The policy is hated by the countryside, businesses and the public, including Labour's own voters.

"Opposition to this disastrous policy will only continue to grow. If Rachel Reeves wants to avoid a long-running battle, she must work with the countryside and rethink this policy urgently."

NFU president Tom Bradshaw vowed farmers will not back down: "We will keep fighting this awful tax. Hopefully the Chancellor will listen." And Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith warned the "death tax" would "bankrupt family farms".